CIUC and Paparoa Street School Held a Chinese Cultural Day

On Friday 8 September local time, Paparoa Street School held its first Chinese Culture Day to celebrate this year’s New Zealand Chinese Language Week with the support of the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury (CIUC). More than 550 students and staff participated in the event.

In the morning, CIUC staff provided six workshops: dumpling making, Chinese games, calligraphy, plate painting, Chinese knots and a tea ceremony. Students were divided into different groups at different sessions to move around the school hall, so that every child had the opportunity to be have a full experience of authentic Chinese culture: making dumplings by themselves, tasting dumplings, learning to use chopsticks, kicking shuttlecocks, playing Wuzi Qi and Jumping Chess, trying Chinese lollies and snacks, painting plum blossoms, making Chinese knots, learning about the art of Chinese tea and tasting Chinese tea. The children really enjoyed themselves. They not only enriched their knowledge of Chinese culture, but also were able to take home their own artwork.

At lunch time, there was a Chinese Concert on in the hall, which started out with a Pipa music performance Short-Lived Heaven by CIUC Mandarin Language Assistant Candice Ran, a graceful piece of music. After the Pipa performance, Paparoa Street School children performed the “Little Apple” Dance and sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Jasmine Flower” in Chinese and. Their clear Chinese pronunciation was impressive. The final performance of the concert was a beautiful performance on the Guzheng by Mandarin Lanugage Assistant Lucy Liu called Lotus out of the Water. During her performance, children gave a parade of traditional Chinese clothing. The combination of Guzheng performance and Kiwi kids showcasing the traditional costumes displayed a perfect fusion of Chinese and New Zealand cultures.

The students, teachers, and parents all enjoyed this one day Chinese culture fair very much and commented that it was really “cool” and “interesting”, saying that they hoped hoping could have the same cultural event next year.